Robert Ecksel
752 articles · The Sweet Science
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Tonight’s the Night: Lomachenko vs. Lopez
After an awkward adjustment, where several boxers tested positive for COVID-19 and bouts were being cancelled with frequency, boxing has adapted to the new normal as well as, if not at times…
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Bob Arum: Satori in Las Vegas
Saturday’s main event televised live on ESPN+ from York Hall in London between Josh Taylor (17-0, 13 KOs), the WBA/IBF junior welterweight champion from Edinburgh, Scotland, and previously undefeated mandatory challenger Apinun…
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It’s Showtime! Lubin vs. Gausha Eliminator
In a fight televised live Saturday night on Showtime from Mohegan Sun Bubble in Uncasville, Connecticut, Erickson Lubin (22-1, 16 KOs), the 24-year-old southpaw from Orlando, Florida, meets Terrell Gausha (21-1-1, 10…
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Herring retains title via DQ over Oquendo
In an mess of a main event streamed live Saturday night on ESPN+ from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, WBO junior lightweight champion Jamel Herring (22-2, 10 KOs), the southpaw from…
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Saturday Night Fever: Herring vs. Oquendo
In a fight streamed live tonight on ESPN+ from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada, WBO junior lightweight champion Jamel Herring (21-2, 10 KOs), the southpaw from Cincinnati, Ohio, will defend…
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Ramirez wins majority decision over Postol
In a fight streamed live on ESPN+ Saturday night from the MGM Grand “Bubble” in Las Vegas, Nevada, Jose Carlos Ramirez (26-0,17 KOs), the WBC/WBO super lightweight champion from Avenal, California, successfully…
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Nicaragua jumps the gun
In a manner of speaking, live boxing is back. Does that mean that the sport of sports, warts, exclamation points, and all, is returning to “normal”? Not on your life. Saturday night…
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Ten-Count for Eddie Cotton
Longtime referee Eddie Cotton passed away Friday due to complications from COVID-19. He was 72. I always admired Cotton’s unobtrusive work in the ring and we spoke several years ago about his…
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Dan Rafael Walks the Plank
For Dan Rafael, the much read and little respected senior boxing writer for ESPN, whose contract has not been renewed after 15 years at the cable network’s website, the end came suddenly,…
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Kubrat Pulev maps Redemption Road
When Kubrat Pulev last made news, it wasn’t because he had signed to fight WBA/WBO/IBF heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on June 20 for a reported £4 million. It…
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On the QT: Tarantino’s top 5 fight flicks
Quentin Tarantino failed to predict the future, but he succeeded in mangling the past. Like Tarantino, I remember the good old days, the days when men were men and women were men.…
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Don King disses Tyson Fury
We’ve not heard the last of Don King. An old-school promoter with one foot in boxing and the other in organized crime, with his flamboyant hair, fluttering flags, and torrential gift of…
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Underdog Helenius stops Kownacki
Saturday night at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, in a WBA heavyweight title eliminator, 35-year-old Robert Helenius (30-3, 19 KOs), the fringe contender from Mariehamn, Finland, by way of Stockholm, Sweden.,…
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John Fury: Father Knows Best
John Fury, the father of WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, speaks his mind. He also has a checkered history of his own. “I've been very unlucky,” the elder Fury told the BBC,…
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Star clothier in Wilder’s corner
Former WBC heavyweight champion Wilder is cleaning house after his corner made a mess of things. Saturday’s whooping by Tyson Fury won’t go away anytime soon. If Wilder had been knocked out…
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Team Wilder in disarray
British heavyweights used to be something of a joke. Not anymore. It appears the joke’s on us. From the days of Bombardier Billy Wells to Henry Cooper to Lennox Lewis, and now…
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Fury clobbers KO King to regain title
A good boxer beats a good puncher most of the time. But what if the good boxer is also a good puncher? What’s can a lowly good puncher do? We found out…
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Tyson Fury Saves Lobsters
He’s not just the two-fisted bloke who conquered his demons and the world. Amidst the praise and laurels he has already received, which will grow with the years, some people in England…
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Plant Devours German in Nashville
NASHVILLE, Tennessee—Saturday night at Breakstone Arena in Nashville, reigning and defending IBF super middleweight champion Caleb “Sweet Hands” Plant (20-0, 12 KOs), the 27-year-old boxer-puncher from nearby Ashland City, celebrated his homecoming…
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Russell outpoints game King Tug
Saturday night at PPL Center in Allentown, Pennsylvania, in the main event televised live on Showtime Championship Boxing, WBC featherweight champion Gary Russell Jr. (31-1, 18 KOs), the lightning-fast southpaw from Capital…